The NEW Rogue in Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred - Patch 2.0
Oct. 6, 2024The NEW Rogue in Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred – Patch 2.0
In this Diablo 4 Rogue in Vessel of Hatred Patch 2.0 article, I’ll be helping you understand how the Rogue Class changes for the D4 Vessel of Hatred expansion (Patch 2.0) affect it and give you an easy overview of what to expect for your builds and Gameplay.
The new expansion is adding 1 new Cutthroat Agility Skill, 1 Key Passive and 4 regular passives to the Rogue as well as a new Paragon board. On the itemization side, we’ll be getting new Uniques, and Legendary Aspects.
Before we get into the specifics of theRogue, let me tell you about some huge changes coming toDiablo IVitself. I’ll try to keep this brief, and we’ll have full detailed coverage in a future video, but for now, here are the most important ones.
First of all,max levelhas been reduced to60(from 100), and players will begin receivingParagon Pointsonce they hit this level. ThesePointscan be used by any level 60 character on your account. This means you can gainParagon Pointsfor yourRoguewhile playing yourNecromancer, and you’ll also have an additional10 Skill Pointsto allocate into your build (from levels 51-60), giving you a total of69 Skill PointsinPatch 2.0, up from 59.
Additionally, stats likeArmor,Health, andDamagehave been drastically reduced to simplify the game and make mathing easier for players. This doesn’t result in a nerfing of your character—it’s more of a backend change, reflected in the new numbers in your UI. So don’t freak out if you see that your weapon no longer deals the same damage; it will still be as effective as before.
Lastly, the difficulty system ofDiablo IVis changing. There are now newTorment levelsalong with new difficulty levels, much like there were inDiablo III. Regular difficulty levels will unlock as you advance your character, butTorment levelswill need to be unlocked through an End Game activity calledThe Pit of Artificers, which functions similarly toRiftsinDiablo 3. These are randomized dungeons with aBossat the end. This shouldn’t fundamentally change the way you play the game and should allow for better customization of your preferred difficulty.
TheRoguehas a newCutthroat Agility Skillcalled“Dance of Knives.”While channeling, it increases yourmovement speedanddodge chancewhile throwing knives at nearby enemies for42% Weapon Damage. The skill comes with6 chargesand has a1-second charge cooldown.
The enhancement grants4 additional chargesif you move30 meterswhile channelingDance of Knives, allowing you to potentially keep channeling the skill almost indefinitely as long as you’re not stunned. This should make theRogueeven more mobile and deadly in chaotic combat situations.
There are two different upgrades,
I think that this will become a staple on many Rogue builds, as it provides you with both Mobility and survivability. On top of that, the skill itself is very fun to use and engage, reminding me a lot of the Whirlwind Barbarian, so I’m sure we are going to see some builds trying to mimic a similar playstyle, especially when combined with the new Aspect of Star Shards which enhances both Damage and AoE.
The newKey Passiveis calledAlchemical Admixture
Most Imbuement builds were aimed at a singular type of damage, but with the introduction of this passive and the added amount of skillpoints I think we’ll now be able to create builds that combine all types of imbuements, which allows to take advantage of more affixes on the gear and will be less monotonous to play.
The other passives are mostly welcome additions to already existing builds,
A flat increased critical strike chance is great for builds that mostly rely on luck or attack speed will love this new passive.
At level 3 with 12% increased damage almost all builds that rely on the Evade mechanic will be picking this and will motive players to fight in the middle of packs of monsters.
While damage reduction is great, this skill seems a little out of place, as you need to actually dodge an attack to trigger the effect and then you are expected to be hit which is counter intuitive. Can still be great to mitigate some elemental or AoE damage.
This passive seems amazing, and we’ll most likely see an increase in Death Trap builds with the 45% increased damage.
There have been multiple changes to Rogue skills since release, so if you are a returning player you will probably need to tweak your build to match the new effects. The latest patch also brings a new wave of changes, starting with theBlade Shift:
For starters, the enhancement was buffed by adding the “Moving through enemies refreshes its duration”, which was previously part of theFundamental Blade ShiftUpgrade. Additionally, the newFundamental Blade Shiftupgrade will now empower your nextBlade Shiftdamage by 100% if you cast another skill before using it.
While the upgrade doesn’t seem that relevant, theEnhancementtoBlade Shiftwill make it so you only need to spend 2 points to be able to move through enemies, which might make it a staple basic skill for many builds.
Disciplined shadow stepwas changed from “Damaging an enemy with Shadow Step stuns them for 2 seconds and reduces its cooldown by 3 seconds” to “Shadow Step deals 200%[x] more damage. Casting Shadow Step reduces its cooldown by 3 seconds.”
I have mixed feelings about this change, as the stun was really helpful against certain enemies, but the 200% increased damage is more versatile and allows you to quickly dispatch the highest threats.
The first noticeable change is that the skill will now also provideUnhinderedwhen used, allowing you to move through enemies and blocking any movement impairment that you may have, greatly increasing its usefulness.
The upgrades were also changed, combining both previous upgrades into a single one.Subverting Concealmentwill now both make enemies Vulnerable for 6 seconds as it used to, and also guarantee a critical strike on the skill used to break concealment.
TheCountering Concealmentupgrade will now grant 10% Dodge Chance and increases the Movement Speed bonus to 60%[+] for 5 seconds.
This allowsConcealmentto be used in two different ways, one that’s aimed at burst damage, and the other one that’s more oriented for survivability and battlefield positioning.
ThePrime Shadow Cloneupgrade will now giveStealthon top ofUnstoppablewhen castingShadow Clone. This will allow for some synergies and also make it more viable as an escape tool in critical situations.
Death Traphas received a massive buff with this update, now providing a base 10 second cooldown if an enemy is killed with it (This was previously a 12 second cooldown provided bySupreme Death Trapupgrade). The newSupreme Death Trapupgrade now makes it so enemies that resist the Pull In are hit again for 120% of Death Trap’s damage.
While we are losing 2 seconds from the previous version, I think that the new effect will be amazing against elites and Bosses, and don’t forget the increased 45% damage we are also getting from the newUnto Dawnpassive, so I’m definitively looking forward to trying this.
Similar toDeath Trap, Rain of arrows now gains theSupreme Rain of Arrowsupgrade by default, which knocks down enemies for 3 seconds. The newSupreme Rain of Arrowsupgrade will now deal 40% increased damage to crowd controlled enemies.
I enjoyedRain of Arrowsbefore, but this will make it even more viable in combination with the increased damage from theUnto Dawnpassive to deal with big crowds of enemies.
The tooltip was changed to better state that the bonus damage is provided based on the weapon used in your attacks.
Now scales from 15% of Damage to Close rather than 10% of Damage vs Crowd Controlled. While it might not sound like a big change, it will definetively redifine the affixes that you are using for the build.
Energy regen while moving increased from 5/10/15% to 7/14/21%. This is a good buff that will definitely see some play, especially with the addition of Dance of Knives.
Now gains damage to Basic skills along with Agility/Subterfuge while the buff is active. Basic skills are not very relevant right now, so I don’t think that this is a relevant change.
Damage from the explosion has been increased from 62% to 80%, which is a plain buff to its effectiveness.
There has been 2 changes, the first one is that Channeled Cutthroat Skills will now also count which includes the newly introduced Dance of Knives. The second and most important change is that stacks will only be removed when using a Marksman Skill instead of any Non-Cutthroat skills, which makes it much more flexible.
I always liked theMomentumKey Passive, but I often felt constrained on using some skills because of this restriction, Im hoping we’ll get to see it more with these changes.
In2.0, players will also now only be able to equip5 Paragon Boardsat a time, including yourbase board, so you cannot just ninja through a board for one node and out really quickly, and instead players will need to utilize their boards wisely. However, eachClasshas gained a newBoard, for a total of9 Boards(up from 8), and someRare Nodeshave changed. And on top of that, players can now earn a total of300 Paragon Points(up from 200), which should allow for a serious power increase across allBuilds.
Glyphshave also seen a significant change. They now no longer improve via experience, but instead level up by completing levels ofThe Pit of Artificersand trying to improve them at the end, again much likeDiablo III. The higher level ofPityou complete, the higher chance you have improving yourGlyph.Glyphsalso now go up to level100further expanding their power, and the higher level they are, the more difficult it becomes to improve them without going to higher and higher levels inThe Pit of Artificers.
Now applies its damage bonus against Bosses.
Outlaw(replacingLawless)
Imbuer
Concoction(replacingDosage)
Surgical(replacingLawless)
Haven(replacingHavoc)
Artificer(replacingWiles)
Deviant(replacingOppress)
Ensnarement(replacingCunning)
Cunning(replacingSlayer)
Essential(replacingFeint)
Punishment(replacingTolerance)
Targeted(replacingDiscerning)
Deliverance(replacingTraining)
Training(replacingRuin)
Misery(replacingDosage)
Revitalize(replacingHunter Killer)
Fundamentals(replacingLawless)
Lawless(replacingFundamentals)
The newParagon boardis called“Danse Macabre”and its unique node makes it soCasting a Mobility or Subterfuge Skill increases the damage of your next Skill by 50%[x], which will open the possibility for somehit and run buildsmade around the new changes to bothConcealmentandShadow Step.
The rare nodes are as follow, and will help withcooldown reductionandburst damage:
The Assasin node provides a massive +25% Damage to healthy Enemies, allowing you to one hit kill high threats at the start of a fight, while the reduction to cooldowns will help keep the uptime of skills and make it viable to create a hit and run build that constantly gets in and out of combat. I think this is a great board that might spawn many new builds.
Remember that theCodex of Powerwas changed inSeason 4, and now storesLegendary Aspectsof the highest roll you’ve obtained for that particularAspect. You can also use theCodex of Poweras many times as you want on items provided you have the gold and materials. If you have not played in awhile, you should probably head over to your storage, pull items you’ve been saving for a rainy day, andSalvagemany of them as soon as possible at theBlacksmithin order to unlock higher rolls at theCodex of Powerand free up space.
The followingAspectsare changing with the new patch:
Three new offensive aspects can be acquired for theRogue
Aspect of Poisonous Clouds– Offensive Aspect
Great for both the Hit and Run archetype or to trigger the new Alchemical Admixture Key Passive which relies on non-physical damage.
Aspect of Splintering Shards-Offensive Aspect
Great for Crowd Control and to deal with big packs of enemies, I think that this could also be effective with the new Alchemical Admixture passive.
Aspect of Star Shards– Offensive Aspect
This Aspect is amazing, greatly increasing AoE and allowing you to mix it with a Combo Style build. I’m sure this is going to be a staple on Dance of Knives builds and see a lot of play.
Unique Item
Pitfighter’s Gull– Unique Ring
Affixes
Power
The ultimate item forHit and Run Strategy, this ring will definitely will see some play and enable one hit kills on most elites and maybe even on some Bosses while also providing an insane amount of survivavility for the wearer.
TheRogueis getting a wide set of tools that was missing to create some amazing builds and it sure look very promising.
The newSkillis very fun to play andI’mwilling to say that it might bring back theRogueto its golden age similar of that of theTwisting-Blade, as it will both improve existing builds and create new and exclusive ones shaped around it.
I’m also happy to see thatBlizzardseem to have made the changes based on their vision of the different playstyles such as theHit and Run assassin, instead of focusing on modifying a single skill at a time. The newpassive skillsandUltimates Reworkwill also getDeath Trapand hopefullyRain of Arrowsback into the meta which will further increase the pool of options that you have while playing as aRogue, while the new passive in combination with the increased amount ofSkill Pointswill allow to mix differentimbuementson a single build making it less monotonous to play.
I’mreally looking forward to try theRogueon this expansion, andI’mvery happy with the changes thatBlizzardhas brought with this patch.
So that rounds up our introduction to the2.0 RogueinDiablo IV.I’mvery excited to try all these changes and try many new builds and even some old ones that were nerfed at the time. As always, you can find our builds on the blog atfextralife.comand make full use of ourinteractive mapandwikito keep track of where to get all items!We’vealready been working and the expansion content is shaping up nicely.
Will you be playing aRogue? Or are you going to be going full on intoSpiritborn? Let us know in the comments below.
Castielle
Senior Editor at Fextralife. I enjoy gaming, playing and watching sports, cooking yummy food, watching a good movie and hanging out with Fex.
